James shepard



- 1. SHEPARD.

Plant Protector. y No. 81,693.v Patented sept. 1, 1868.

y nniirg tatrratrnt @frn Letters Patent No. 81,693, dated -iSeptember 1, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN rnorEeTING PLANTS, et.

'die iflgehulr referrer it it tips Atetters. atint sur mating part nf its smite.

TO ALL WHOM IT` MAY C ONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES SIIEI'ARD, of Bristol, in the countyiof Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and improved Plant-Protector for protecting young and tender plants from-'the devastations of the larvae of the genusAgrotz's; 'and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the artrto make and use the same, reference being had to the acco'nipanying drawings, making a part of. this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention and a portion of a garden.

FigureZ is a view of my invention ready for transportation.

Similar letters ofreference indicate like parts.

My invention consists in the use or employment of a single strip of thin wood or a veneer, for enclosing or fencing a plant. i

Itis creased or scored across it in several places, which places are designated hyperpendicular lines. The object olscoring itis to make it forni, with little or no tendency to straighten, while the short bends'at the scorings entirely prevent it from4 warping.

A t each scoring, it is bent until the ends lap, and a ring, G, is formed, which ring isplaced over the plant O, `with the plant C near its centre. Then press the veneer ring G into the ground D, about one-half its depth,

'which ground will secure it in its place, -as shown in 6g. 1.

E designates a pepper-plant that the larva has cut, and F- is its trail o r path towards the plant C. H designates the larva as it has reached the veneer ring or protector G, which ring turns it from its course,

i and the plant C remains uninjured.

Although the larvae'oi'the genus Agrots, (comrmoulyknown as the ent-worm,) burrow at the roots of a plant when they have cut itdwn, they never move from point to point under the surface ofthe ground.

They remain in the ground during the day, but when night comes on, they come to the surface, and crawl about `seeking what they can devour. Any small object in their path will turn them from their course; consequently, when they moet the protector G, they simply crawl around it,`and the enclosed plant remains untouched:

These facts have long been known to scientific men, and' individuals have made for their own use metallic rings and'square boxes of wood; and been well repaid for their trouble.

Nothing of the kind was ever manufactured to sell, as the metallic rings or boxes nailed together are so expensive that they cannot be brought into general use.

' By my invention, the use unemployment of a'single strip of thin wood, or a veneer,ithese protectors can be made and sold, ata good profit, for one dollar and a half per thousand, which is so low that no one need to be without them, and much less than the time would cost to make home-made ones.

Tobacco-growers, gardeners, and those who buy expensive plants from green-houses, would never thinkof leaving their plants without these protectors, as, in some localities, many dollars worth of plants are 'often cut down in a single night. y

I do not claim a metallic vring for this purpose, neither do I cla-ima protector, made of two or more pieces of wood but y What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A-s anew article of manufacture, a plant-protector, when constructed and arranged specially as and for the purpose described.

JAMES SHEPARD. 4Witnesses:

FRANK Huisman,

JOHN A. WAY. 

